The opposite of depression

On the way to work

Listening to one podcast or another, the person being interviewed stated that the opposite of anxiety and depression wasn’t connection, it was purpose.

First reaction? I puked in my mouth a little bit. I’ll admit, that the bile did rise a little bit. I had forgotten that I take such foolishness very seriously. The opposite of anxiety and depression is not connection or purpose. The opposite of anxiety and depression is play.

In my office, every day, I’m searching for the way to find play. Sure, there’s loads of shit to sort through. There are piles of garbage on the way. And? At it’s core, the work is to help people remember how to play.

Play is the willingness to be curious of, generous towards, and engaged with the field of experience around us. Anytime that we resist within play, those times that we hold back? In Gestalt terms, they might call it functional retroflection. This foolish term simply means knowing when to keep your mouth shut.

In the land of the fool? It’s called playing …